Sheriff has until Wednesday to cancel Flagstaff climb

By Joe Rubino Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
08/19/2012 05:00:00 PM MDT

Updated:
08/20/2012 09:33:07 AM MDT

Daniel Oss of Italy, right, riding for Liquigas-Cannondale celebrates his victory of stage six of the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge from Golden to Denver on August 28, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

A month after Boulder leaders officially approved plans for the city to host stage six of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge -- which is scheduled for Saturday -- safety concerns over the race's finish on Flagstaff Mountain have lessened along with the fire danger.

Still, race organizers and public safety officials are keeping a close eye on fire conditions and have backup plans at the ready, including a possible alternative Boulder finish in downtown.

In mid-July, when the Boulder City Council was preparing to sign off on the stage six plans, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle voiced concerns about finishing on Flagstaff if fire danger remained as high as it was at that point in the summer. In particular, Pelle was concerned about evacuating 30,000 spectators -- the cap set by the local organizing committee and the city -- from the mountain in the event of an emergency.

The race gets underway in Durango today, but Pelle still has until Wednesday to give the required 72 hours notice to call off the Flagstaff portion of stage six. Considering recent weather patterns and fire danger, Pelle said that is not looking likely.

"At the time I expressed my concern, we were experiencing very high fire danger," Pelle said. "That has moderated. If we continue to have low temperatures overnight and hopefully a little moisture it will stay (moderate.)"

Pelle said he and others in the Sheriff's Office will continue to monitor fire danger from a testing station on Sugarloaf Mountain, the closest station to Flagstaff, until Wednesday.

"I anticipate at this time they are going to have their epic finish on Flagstaff," he said.

Managing crowds

Boulder open space rangers and volunteer race marshals will handle crowd control on Flagstaff and Colorado State Patrol troopers will handle the rolling road closures along most of the stage six route, officials said.

The race marshals will be monitoring crowd distribution -- making sure people don't continue climbing the mountain if no space is available above them -- while rangers will ensure the surrounding open space is protected, said Boulder spokesman Patrick von Keyserling.

Evacuation plans for Flagstaff largely consist of people coming down trails and getting off the road quickly, von Keyserling said. He declined to comment on where an alternate finish might take place but noted the only place to see the racers pass by twice on the route now is downtown.

Sheriff's deputies, 37 of whom will be dedicated to the race, will be in charge of hard road closures, Pelle said, including closing off Baseline Road at the base of Flagstaff. They will also be ready to assist any necessary evacuation effort or with alternate finish plans, Pelle said.

"If there was an emergency my deputies would have to be very involved in an evacuation," Pelle said. "The alternate finish is a downtown finish so we would move all of our resources off the mountain and into downtown to assist with that."

Finalizing plans

Barry Siff is co-chair of Boulder's local organizing committee for the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Siff said he could not confirm if an alternate finish has been arranged for downtown, noting that Medalist Sports, LLC is the company managing the race and making those decisions.

"They definitely have one or two alternate finishes," Siff said. "It would seem downtown would make a whole lot of sense."

Siff said his main concerns as the race approaches are smaller things, such as where to place portable toilets on Flagstaff and how to distribute the many volunteers helping to make the race possible. As of Friday, he was still working to finalize what bands will play the Finish Festival, a community event that will be held on a closed-down portion of Pearl Street once the race is over.

Spectators who wish to view the finish on Flagstaff must have a wristband, several thousand of which have already been distributed by the local organizing vommittee, Siff said. They were being snatched up with such enthusiasm, Siff said, organizers chose to hang on to a substantial number to be distributed on Flagstaff Saturday.

"We're really sensitive to the fact that there are going to be tens of thousands of people coming into Boulder that day to see the race," he said. "We are holding on to a good number so there are some available at the base of the mountain on race day."

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